The Urban Institute examined state and local contracting under three block grant programs with "Charitable Choice" provisions, including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment (SAPT), and the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG)-and one discretionary program aimed specifically at engaging faith based organizations in public contracting, the Compassion Capital Fund. This article provides information on the role of faith within publicly funded programs.

Authored by David A. Long and Tammy Ouellette. Despite the TANF program's emphasis on employment, the policies, practices, and attitudes of the employers of TANF recipients have received limited attention. This study, conducted by Abt Associates and the Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, synthesizes existing research regarding employers, workforce intermediaries, and TANF recipients and considers options for further study -- including a national survey of employers and workforce intermediaries -- to improve understanding in this area.

Employers can be a key component to help TANF recipients maintain employment. This resource, from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, reviews information from the Jobs Initiative on what kinds of employers are willing to work with workforce intermediaries and what activities are likely to help support workers.

This guidebook was developed specifically for small community-based, faith-based, and minority nonprofit organizations in Louisiana who are committed to providing valuable social services, leadership, and hope to needy citizens in Louisiana's most vulnerable communities. Information is provided on the competitive RFP process and contracting work with the State. The guidebook is part of a broader effort by Louisiana State government to increase the capacity of non-profit organizations in the State.

This resource reviews a project through New York City's Administration for Children's Service project called Neighborhood Networks. This project builds a foundation for collaboration among organizations that work with children and families. The goal of the project is to increase access to social services for families and decrease the number of children in foster care. The article reviews the effectiveness of these networks.

As part of Phase 2 of the Initiative (2008-2009), this report is based on the analysis of the 139 promising programs (see the Compendium) and offers a window into a subset of the nation’s leading faith- and community-based intermediary organizations that are working everyday with TANF participants and other low-income populations. The selected programs range from those deeply motivated by faith commitments to those which are entirely secular in nature; from highly professionalized to volunteer-driven efforts; from groups serving TANF families to those who support ex-offenders re-integrate into society; and from organizations serving highly urbanized to rural settings representing all 10 ACF regions. The project team conducted structured phone-based discussions with Executive Directors of the 23 FBCOs, summarizing key findings in this report. (Two programs elected not to participate in the study.) Under the leadership of senior policymakers at OFA, eight of these programs were selected for further study.

The ACF Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network coordinated this workshop on behalf of the ACF Region VII office. The network is a contract from the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Family Assistance (OFA). The contractors for the Network are AFYA, Inc. and Caliber Associates. The purpose of this two-day technical assistance event was to identify the transportation challenges of participating states, examine other state’s initiatives that have addressed these challenges, identify available resources, and explore next steps to address these challenges. Additional topics included the Transportation Equity Act of the 21st Century (TEA-21) and the wealth of resources available via the National Transit Resource Center, operated by the Community Transportation Association of America.

The ACF Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network coordinated this workshop on behalf of the ACF Region IV office. The network is a contract from the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Family Assistance (OFA). The contractors for the network are AFYA, Inc. and Caliber Associates. The purpose of this two day technical assistance event was to identify the participating states’ transportation priority challenges, to examine other state’s initiatives that have addressed these challenges, to identify available resources, and to explore lessons learned that participants could use as a background for formulating next steps to address these challenges. Additional topics addressed included TEA-21 (Transportation Equity Act of the 21st Century), the role of Head Start, and the wealth of resources available via the National Transit Resource Center (operated by the Community Transportation Association of America).

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network conducted this workshop in collaboration with the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC). The purpose of the event was to provide and share information on Welfare-to-Work (WTW) transportation and related issues. Furthermore, the workshop provided a forum for discussing the effectiveness of current initiatives, which provide the foundation for solutions to as yet unresolved transportation dilemmas. Specific topics addressed included building upon existing resources; providing affordable, accessible, and reliable transportation to all urban, suburban, and rural areas; coordination between transportation, workforce development, and human service agencies to overcome transportation barriers, and combining resources to achieve these objectives.

The Welfare Peer TA Network hosted a broadcast call titled, “Welfare Reform and Housing—Asset Building and Individual Development Accounts (IDAs)” on August 2, 2000. The purpose of the call was to review the asset building and IDA program concepts, present examples of cooperation between State TANF agencies and asset building programs, and identify issues related to asset building and IDAs that are likely to arise for State TANF agencies.